Expert: Dr. Louis N. Gotthelf - 6/7/2011

Question
Greetings~
Sara is my 2 yrs. old lhaso, I feed her "Blue" dogfood only. as well as her "blue" treats....she keeps itching itching itching till there are scabs on her.  She does take her pills for fleas etc...she is strictly indoors even going potty, we have something in the garage set up.  I shaved her yesterday to really take a look at it. Right now, I've put a hoody, plastic cone on her. I don't know what this is from, it has got to be driving her crazy....I was giving her benedryl liquid, then one tablet but this isn't the answer.  She is being bathed correctly, we use an oatmeal base, I just don't know what to do, can you suggest anything. I also keep an extremely clean home, I vacuum 3 times a week etc....
thank you,

Pat Cieslak

Answer
There is a possibility that the dog may be allergic to something either in the environment or in the food.  There is also a possibility that she has mites on her skin causing the itching.  I would recommend having her dipped by your vet in a special insecticide (phosmet or amitraz) to try and kill any of these microscopic parasites.  If that does not help, she may need some steroids to help relieve her itching and possibly even a food trial with a dog food containing proteins that her body has never seen before.